British Columbia man dies after RCMP attempt to subdue him with taser

October 1, 2008

JANE ARMSTRONG, Globe and Mail
With a report from The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER -- A man has died after Mounties in the Vancouver suburb of Langley used a taser to subdue him after he jumped out of the window of a house.

Police said the man died en route to hospital yesterday afternoon. Officers used the stun gun after they responded to reports that an armed bank robbery suspect was holed up in a Langley house.

RCMP Corporal Peter Thiessen told CTV news that shortly after police arrived at the house, the man smashed through the front window and landed on the ground. He was naked and bleeding from the chest.

Earlier, shouts were heard from the house and police said there were reports that a woman was inside.

Cpl. Thiessen did not release the name of the man nor say if he was the bank robbery suspect.

Police tried to subdue the agitated man, but he tried to run back into the house, Corporal Thiessen said. "At that point, believing that he was a possible armed robbery suspect, the fact that the firearm was unaccounted for and the fact that there was a known female still inside ... officers used their [taser] in an effort to restrain this individual, which they subsequently did," the officer said.

The bank robbery occurred just a few blocks away, earlier in the morning.

It's the second time recently that police in the Vancouver area have used the device to subdue a suspect. Last Monday, Vancouver police used a taser on a 16-year-old mentally ill mother, saying they feared she would harm her baby.

Police have stood by that decision, saying they tried to reason with the girl for three hours and warned her they would use the device. The girl's baby was critically ill since birth and police said they believed she would smother the infant. Social workers called police after she failed to return to her foster home on Sunday. She was at the apartment of her 17-year old boyfriend, the child's father, who is not permitted to see the baby without an adult's supervision.

Last year, Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died at the Vancouver airport after four Mounties subdued him with a taser. An inquiry has been called into the circumstances of Mr. Dziekanski's death, which sparked outrage and made headlines around the world after a video recorded by a witness at the airport was released. The incident sparked a dozen investigations, including a review by the Ontario Provincial Police, the B.C. Coroner's office, the RCMP Public Complaints Commission and a House of Commons committee.

A report released last month said the RCMP didn't get enough input from medical experts about the impact of stun guns on people.

The head of the Mounties' complaints commission, Paul Kennedy, has called for more restraint by police when they use the weapon.

Canada needs standards on use of tasers: Therien

September 22, 2008
The Hill Times
CANADA'S POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT NEWSWEEKLY

The report, prepared by John Kiedrowski, of the University of Ottawa's Criminology Department, ordered by RCMP Commissioner Bill Elliott into the use of tasers following the death of a Polish immigrant at Vancouver airport last October urges the federal government to set national standards for taser use by all police services in Canada, under its power in the Criminal Code to regulate firearms. The Canada Safety Council has long advocated and fully agrees that standards for the efficacy and use of tasers must be developed. This is a position shared by many concerned organizations. Without question, establishing standards would be a huge step in the right direction.

Emile Therien
Past president, Canada Safety Council
Ottawa, Ont.

Editorial: Lack of due diligence

September 15, 2008
Globe and Mail

A recent report indicates that the RCMP relied too heavily on the manufacturer's advice and research in developing policies for the use of electric stun guns. This latest revelation goes to show that the police force got it wrong, right from the beginning.

An independent review has found that the RCMP failed to exercise due diligence when it approved the taser for use. The police force failed to adequately consult medical and mental health experts about the impact of taser use and relied on advice from the taser's American manufacturer in determining how it would train officers and deploy the weapon. Further, the RCMP took a contrary position to other police forces when it trained all its officers to use the devices.

The independent review was ordered by the Commissioner of the RCMP, William Elliott, submitted to him in June and released under the Access to Information Act. It reportedly criticized the stun-gun research of the Canadian Police Research Centre (the research arm of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police), finding its reports were not adequately peer-reviewed, lacked important information and included inaccurate data. (A new report on the safety of the stun guns expected from the Canadian Police Research Centre last month has been delayed until 2009.) The report concludes that many of the problems in the RCMP "policy-development process" might have been avoided if the force had enlisted impartial researchers to conduct studies "that could detect and take into account potential police and manufacturer biases." The federal government should set national standards, it also urges. Currently, 170 police agencies in Canada use the devices.

The RCMP's willingness to rely on the manufacturer of the weapon for advice in how to deploy it may have been the first instance of poor judgment by the police force when it comes to tasers, but certainly not the last. A report from the commissioner for public complaints against the RCMP released in June concludes that the RCMP has failed to adequately document the use of the devices since 2001, so much so that RCMP policy shifts were made without a factual basis, the report concludes, calling it "a dangerous practice."

The coziness of the relationship between Taser International and Canadian police forces has already been made clear - including payments (and stock options) to a researcher at the Canadian Police Research Centre, and sponsorship of police chiefs' conferences over the years (most recently a $25,000 platinum sponsorship of last month's conference). But this latest news suggests that the very foundation of taser use by the RCMP is flawed.

This has probably had repercussions beyond the RCMP's use of the device. As the national police force, the RCMP's practices set a standard for the country. Other municipal police forces could reasonably implement the same use-of-force policies, and rely on the research of the Canadian Police Research Centre.

The RCMP's failure to fulfill its responsibility to objectively assess the impact of the weapons in developing its own policies may well have played a role in the 22 taser-related deaths in the past five years.

Editorial: When to zap

September 15, 2008
National Post

Canadians shouldn't have had to wait for an Access to Information Request to drag an RCMP investigation on the force's use of Tasers into the public eye. The Mounties should have released the report themselves, without prompting, when they received it in June. And they should make public now the 18 pages they have censored, including the investigators' recommendations on when and how Tasers should be used.

It has been nearly a year since Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died after being Tasered while in custody at Vancouver International Airport. Amateur video of the incident -- including what appears to be officers' hasty resort to use of the "conducted energy weapons" that deliver a high-voltage charge to suspects -- shocked and outraged Canadians.

Since Mr. Dziekanski's death, at least five other Canadians in police custody have died after being Tasered. And over the years, there have been a total of 22 deaths following Taserings. No autopsy or public inquiry has yet ruled the weapons a direct cause of death in any incident, but many Canadians are worried that the devices may be more dangerous than police and their manufacturer, Taser International, allow. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and the Saskatchewan Police Commission have both suspended use of Tasers until further study of their lethality can be concluded.

We are not opposed to Tasersuse by police. Like chokeholds, batons and firearms, they have their place in the menu of police responses to violent or agitated prisoners and suspects. But we do believe the risks of using them must be fully appreciated so officers do not discharge them at the wrong time or against especially vulnerable individuals.

That is why the RCMP report -- brought to light by a Toronto Star Access to Information Request -- should have been made public right away: It red-flags the lack of independent research conducted by the force before its widespread adoption of the devices. Too many of the 170 Canadian police services that use Tasers rely almost entirely on Taser International's claims about their safety.

According to the report, prepared for RCMP Commissioner William Elliott and carried out by independent experts, there has been "an over-reliance on research carried out by [stun gun] manufacturers … or sponsored by the manufacturers. While manufacturers understandably need to provide (and are entitled to do so) information to potential customers or clients as part of their marketing and promotion efforts, the policing community needs to be assiduous in assessing the manufacturer's information."

Mounties weren't assiduous enough.

Many deaths following a Tasering are attributed to a condition known as "excited delirium." It has been suggested that Mr. Dziekanski's case fell into this category. While being restrained, the victim acts wildly, is often violent, sweats profusely, exhibits abnormal strength and seems insensitive to pain. His heart races and eventually stops beating.

The RCMP report acknowledges that emergency room staff sometimes list excited delirium as a cause of death, but it emphasizes that it is not a recognized medical diagnosis and that there is much controversy in the medical community still about whether it should be cited as a legitimate medical state. When officers report a suspected case of excited delirium, the report concluded, they are engaging in nothing short of "folk knowledge."

Until the Mounties can conduct their own study into the effects of Tasers on those they are arresting -- as the report recommends they do -- use of the devices should be restricted to experienced officers, and new guidelines should be issued for their use. We do not presuppose to know what those guidelines should say, but it seems a good bet that Taser use against handcuffed suspects or those being held to the floor by officers should be examined.

It's a pity the Mounties chose not to release this information themselves. Doing so would have helped repair their damaged reputation. But now that the report is public, the force can help rebuild Canadians' faith in it by limiting officers' Taser use until the force can decide for itself just what constitutes appropriate use.

RCMP, Toronto police treat tasers differently

September 13, 2008
Betsy Powell, Toronto Star

The RCMP are facing criticism over their use of Tasers as a less-than-lethal weapon but Toronto police treat the stun gun as a prohibited firearm.

And while the Mounties have been told to stop using "excited delirium" to describe combative, resistant suspects whose behaviour justifies firing the 50,000-volt charge, the term doesn't show up anywhere in Toronto police procedures relating to the use of Tasers.

"Excited delirium" is not a recognized medical diagnosis, but a term sometimes used by emergency room doctors or coroners, an Ottawa-based independent review panel said in a report obtained this week by the Star under Access to Information.

RCMP Commissioner Bill Elliott ordered the review after the death last October of a Polish man shot with a Taser by RCMP officers at the Vancouver airport.

The report urges the federal government to set national standards for Taser use by all police forces in Canada, under its power in the Criminal Code to regulate firearms.

Elliott received the report in June but it had not been made public until this week.

The review concluded, among other things, that the RCMP did not do "due diligence" when it approved the Taser stun gun for widespread use within the force and relied too much on the advice of the Taser's American manufacturer in developing its policies and training.

Across Canada, 170 police agencies use stun guns and 22 people have died after being hit by stun guns, although the deaths have not been linked directly to their use.

Toronto police will not comment on the report since officials have yet to read the document, spokesperson Mark Pugash said yesterday.

But he noted that the Toronto Police Service's approach to Tasers was favourably cited in another Taser report released earlier this year by the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP in British Columbia.

That report found Toronto has provided "a good example of operational use and guidance around CEW (conducted energy weapon). "The authorization of CEW deployments in situations where the subject is displaying assaultive behaviour is similar to where the commission has argued that the RCMP should be situating this weapon."

That report also concluded that in contrast to other police services, including Toronto, "which took the precaution of restricting CEW use to supervisors, the RCMP's position was that all of its officers should be trained to deploy a CEW."

While Toronto police have restricted Taser use to tactical units and qualified front-line supervisors, Chief Bill Blair has and continues to call for their use to be broadened to about 3,000 of 5,500 officers, Pugash said.

Taser report criticizes RCMP research

September 12, 2008
Mike Barber, Canwest News Service

An independent review of the RCMP's Taser policy released Friday levelled criticisms at the police force's research into the weapon before issuing them to officers.

The report, authored by Ottawa criminologist John Kiedrowski, was ordered by RCMP commissioner Bill Elliott in response to a spate of deaths related to incidents involving the electric stun gun.

The controversy over the conducted energy weapons peaked last year when Robert Dziekanski, a Polish national, died after being subdued by RCMP officers using Tasers when he became hysterical upon his arrival at Vancouver International Airport.

John Kiedrowski concluded that the RCMP should have sought the 'assistance of trained research and policy analysts' in addition to the tests they and some other police services completed with Tasers in the late 1990s.

One of the main criticisms was an "over-reliance on information supplied by the manufacturer." RCMP officers "were not routinely completing the required reports" needed when the weapon was used to determine if they were used effectively.

Furthermore, the report said there has not been a review of the weapon since being first adopted by the RCMP in 2001.

Kiedrowski concluded that the RCMP should have sought the "assistance of trained research and policy analysts" in addition to tests they and some other police services completed in the late 1990s.

The criminologist noted that no national medical or mental health associations were consulted in the initial testing, and that many of the reports used by the RCMP in vetting the weapon were not peer-reviewed.

"Many of the resulting problems in the RCMP policy-development process might have been avoided had the RCMP used its own internal research and evaluation branch to seek out independent researchers to conduct studies that could detect and take into account any potential police and manufacturer biases," the report said.

Tasers have been linked to 22 deaths in Canada. The Kiedrowski report noted that there are no national standards in place for the proper use of the weapons, but that police across the country could benefit from them.

The training manual used by RCMP officers was also criticized. The report said that there is no causal link between Taser application and death, factors such as a subject's "size and body weight, existence of various medical conditions, acute psychosis, ingestion of drugs, and prolonged acute stress" could increase the risk of harm. These factors had not been clearly covered in previous training and operation manuals.

Likewise, the report said the RCMP's challenge statement issued before using a Taser - "Police, stop or you will be hit with 50,000 volts of electricity!" - should be reviewed.

The report was completed on June 5, but was only released publicly this week.

RCMP relied too much on taser manufacturer info: report

September 12, 2008
CBC News

RCMP officials relied too heavily on information provided by manufacturers when they were developing their own stun gun policies and training programs, an independent review concludes.

The review of the Mounties' policies on the use of stun guns, known by their brand name Taser, was prepared on the orders of RCMP Commissioner William Elliott. The review was finished in June, but only made public on Friday.

"There was an over-reliance on research carried out by [stun gun] manufacturers and/or the views of police services relying primarily on the research conducted or sponsored by the manufacturers," the review states in its conclusion.

"While manufacturers understandably need to provide (and are entitled to do so) information to potential customers or clients as part of their marketing and promotion efforts, the policing community needs to be assiduous in assessing the manufacturer's information."

Taser International, the American maker of Taser products, has done extensive research on its products and defends them as safe. But Tasers, which are used by 73 police forces across the country, have been linked, although not directly, to at least 20 deaths in Canada. The most controversial case came last year when 40-year-old Robert Dziekanski of Poland died at Vancouver International Airport shortly after the RCMP shocked him. Dziekanski's death renewed calls for a moratorium on Taser use.

Didn't consult national medical agencies

The independent review, done by a group of independent consultants, also concludes that the RCMP did an "inadequate" review of the literature available on Tasers but had an "over-reliance" on anecdotal information. And while the RCMP contacted two provincial schizophrenia societies for information, they should have contacted national medical and mental health associations, the review finds.

The review also concludes that while the RCMP relied on research done by professional police officers with some technical understanding of Tasers and practical expertise, the force should have sought the assistance of trained research and policy analysts.

"Having such practical knowledge is not a substitute for training in research and policy analysis," the review says.

The Toronto Star was the first media outlet to obtain the review, which was provided to the newspaper on Thursday through an Access to Information request. Some 16 pages were removed from the report before it was released to the Star, including the recommendations the review made.

The review comes on the heels of a Taser report issued in June by Paul Kennedy, head of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP. He concluded that only experienced officers should be handling the weapons.

RCMP didn't study taser use enough: Report

This is exactly what I and others have been trying to emphasize. Finally, someone "gets" it!!

September 12, 2008
Tonda MacCharles, Ottawa Bureau - Toronto Star

OTTAWA–The RCMP did not do "due diligence" when it approved the Taser stun gun for use as a less-than-lethal weapon by its officers, a hard-hitting independent review concludes.

The report was ordered by RCMP Commissioner Bill Elliott after the uproar following the death last October of a Polish immigrant shot with a Taser by RCMP at the Vancouver airport.

Submitted in June to Elliott but not made public, the review says the RCMP relied too much on the advice of the Taser's American manufacturer in developing its policies and training, did not consult widely enough with medical and mental health experts about its impact on people, and did not treat the weapon as a "prohibited firearm" – its proper legal classification.

Across Canada, 170 police agencies use stun guns and 22 people have died after being hit by stun guns, although the deaths have not been linked directly to their use.

The report, obtained yesterday by the Star under Access to Information, slams the use of the term "excited delirium" by police officers to describe combative, resistant suspects, saying it is an excuse to justify firing the 50,000-volt charge.

"Excited delirium" is not a recognized medical diagnosis, but a term sometimes used by emergency room doctors or coroners, the report says. However, its use by police amounts to "folk knowledge" and it should be eliminated from the RCMP's operational manual unless formally approved after consultation with a mental-health policy advisory body, said the review.

The report urges the federal government to set national standards for Taser use by all police forces in Canada, under its power in the Criminal Code to regulate firearms.

The conclusions come in an edited copy of the report that exempted all recommendations to the commissioner from public release, citing protections for advice to a minister, and "solicitor-client" privilege.

Prepared by a group of independent consultants led by Ottawa-based John Kiedrowski, the review says former commissioner Guiliano Zaccardelli authorized the use of the guns in December 2001 to subdue suspects or anyone who resists arrest or is combative or suicidal.

The RCMP's move followed the adoption of the weapon by police forces in Edmonton and Victoria.

"In contrast to other police services, which took the precaution of restricting CEW (conducted energy weapon) use to supervisors, the RCMP's position was that all of its officers should be trained to deploy a CEW," the review stated.

It said the "apparent rationale" was that about 80 per cent of RCMP officers work in rural or isolated areas with little or no backup.

Paul Kennedy, the commissioner for public complaints against the RCMP, recommended in June that the force restrict the use of Tasers to experienced officers, and order medical attention once a person has been hit. Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day approved the report in principle, although he signalled the RCMP had reservations about the impact on their operations.

The review found other problems with the RCMP's approach, saying the force should have used trained policy analysts to conduct its own research on the weapon. And, although the RCMP consulted two provincial schizophrenia societies, it did not consult national medical and mental-health associations.

There was also an over-reliance on research carried out by the Taser's manufacturer and the views of other police services – who had also relied primarily on the company.

It said while medical literature does not establish a "sufficient causal link" between a Taser shock and death, "there is considerable information" showing many factors that could relate to "risk of harm" including: pregnancy, size, body weight, existence of medical conditions, pacemakers, psychosis, ingestion of drugs and "prolonged acute stress and exhaustion."

And while manufacturers need to provide information, the report says "the policing community needs to be assiduous in assessing the manufacturer's information."

It criticized the work of the Canadian Police Research Centre – relied on by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police in its review of Tasers – saying the reports were not subject to rigorous peer review, overlooked important information and contained factual errors.

It also cited the erroneous characterization of the Taser as a prohibited weapon instead of a "firearm" – the Taser was legally classified as the latter in 1998 Criminal Code amendments – a designation that brings much stiffer rules for storage, training, certification and use.

A change to recognize the correct legal classification was made in 2007 in the RCMP's operational policy – after the death of Robert Dziekanski – but other documents and procedures weren't changed.

Taser use could put police under fire

June 28, 2008

Tonda MacCharles, Ottawa Bureau, Toronto Star

OTTAWA–Evidence at British Columbia's Taser inquiry may mean police forces across Canada, including the Ontario Provincial Police officers who zapped a suspect in Norfolk County near Simcoe this week, could be slapped with Criminal Code charges and wrongful death lawsuits.

B.C. police complaints commissioner Dirk Ryneveld revealed new information first unearthed by an Ontario consultant that shows most police agencies in Canada are wrongly operating, likely illegally, under the assumption that the Taser is not a "prohibited firearm."

In fact, research by Ottawa-based consultant John Kiedrowski indicates Taser guns are actually explicitly defined in Canadian criminal law as "prohibited firearms" – a designation that brings much stiffer rules around storage, training, certification and usage.

Likewise, any offence with a firearm, such as unauthorized use, would bring harsher mandatory minimum jail penalties.

Kiedrowski, who was unavailable to comment, recently completed an independent report for RCMP Commissioner Bill Elliott on Tasers and the rules governing their use. The RCMP says it cannot release the report because it is not fully translated.

Ryneveld told the inquiry Kiedrowski briefed him on his concerns about Tasers, and Ryneveld said he believes Kiedrowski's concerns warrant a closer look.

Until now, the debate in Canada has centred on whether the Taser is an "intermediate" or "less-than-lethal" weapon, and whether officers are too quick on the draw when faced with a person resisting arrest.

Taser stun guns, or conducted energy weapons, are hand-held devices that can be either fired by pressing the barrel against a suspect and discharging an electrical shock, or fired from a distance, shooting out darts that penetrate clothing and attach to a suspect.

The officer then conducts an electrical charge via the propelled wires to jolt the individual into submission either through pain or muscle incapacitation.

Kiedrowski says the definition of a firearm, in law, means "a barrelled weapon from which any shot, bullet or other projectile can be discharged and that is capable of causing serious bodily injury or death to a person."

Regulations passed in 1998 when the federal Firearms Act came into effect define a "prohibited firearm" as "any firearm capable of discharging a dart or other object carrying an electrical current or substance, including the firearm of the design commonly known as the Taser Public Defender and any variant or modified version of it."

Kiedrowski discovered that provincial policing codes that authorize officers to carry firearms are required to list, by name, the firearms in use. None listed the Taser stun gun – theoretically making any discharge of a Taser, by definition, "unauthorized."

Instead, Tasers are treated as "prohibited weapons" and on the "use of force" spectrum, most police forces in Canada, including the RCMP and the OPP, classified them as "intermediate weapons."

"If this is a prohibited firearm, it must be authorized for use," said Ryneveld.

"And if their paperwork is misclassified as a prohibited weapon, then the restrictions on its use, and the reporting and the training and the certification don't apply to the Taser, whereas perhaps it should."

Ryneveld suggested while many police regulations allow officers to use firearms "for a special purpose," arming officers on general patrol with Tasers would have a hard time qualifying as a "special purpose."

RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Sylvie Tremblay admitted in an interview yesterday the RCMP "has been aware that the CEW (conducted energy weapon) is classified as a prohibited firearm" and has included that recognition in its operational policy. It appears that occurred sometime in 2007.

Tremblay said the RCMP policy recognizes that "carrying the CEW requires the same use and care practices as with all firearms used by the RCMP."

But RCMP public complaints commissioner Paul Kennedy, who last week urged the RCMP to tighten its rules on Taser use, has slammed the force for relaxing its own rules on Tasers.

Kennedy said in an interview yesterday he learned of the new information during his own limited review of RCMP protocols on Tasers, but did not include it in his report last week because it was beyond the scope of his mandate.

Asked what concerns the OPP has about legal implications its officers may face, OPP spokesperson Insp. Dave Ross sent an email to the Star that sidestepped the question.

"The OPP is reviewing the recommendations from the Kennedy report and looks forward to recommendations that may arise from any inquiry to evaluate if any of them will improve the safe and effective use of conducted energy weapons."